Two More Guns Stolen from Unlocked Cars in Sioux Falls

Over the weekend, two more people learned that you cannot leave guns in unlocked cars. It’s a Sioux Falls situation that does have a simple solution.

Sioux Falls Police Public Information Officer Sam Clemens says that a .22 rifle and a handgun were reported stolen from separate vehicles either late Friday night or early Saturday morning.

Though the continued trend of guns taken from unlocked vehicles is alarming, Clemens is confident that simply locking car doors would go a long way toward derailing thefts from vehicles in general.

“All of these different crimes stem from leaving cars unlocked. If we could get people to just lock the cars, we’d see a dramatic decrease in the property crimes that we have in Sioux Falls. We do see some cars that are broken into whether it be a window that’s broken sometimes a lock is maybe jimmied. Those (larcenies) are a little bit more rare.”

The focus many times is on the big items taken from unlocked cars, Clemens says occasionally the whole car could be at risk if the keys are left inside.

“Putting a key under a floor mat isn’t a super-secret hiding spot. You leave the car unlocked somebody opens it up and starts rummaging through, they’re going to find the keys and they’re going to drive away with the car.”

It’s likely that the stolen gun reports from unlocked cars over the weekend are unrelated as the two incidents occurred miles from each other.

One of the guns was taken from the 1600 block of S. 2nd Avenue and the other was from the 5600 block of W. Circle Drive.